by Power, P. S.
So Dare nodded.
"That seems fair. Or we can just get a Truth amulet and you can ask what you want." He nearly suggested that they could do it both ways, but he didn't really care much about the man. He was interesting enough, having once been a King, but the conversation was kind of boring him at the same time.
That, he suspected, was due to the fact that he was losing energy, having been up for too long. Whole hours and everything. There was a rustle of cloth, and a second large form moved in alongside the old King. The new one, his son, Richard. Side by side it was easy to see how similar the two men were. Richard actually was about an inch or so taller, and a bit leaner looking. Both seemed incredibly powerful however, if you were paying attention.
"Ah! Dare. You've met my father? And haven't even started fighting him yet? Amazing." There was a smile on his face, and the older man snorted at him, taking another drink.
"I noticed that one as well. Prince Dareg here is most polite however. I asked about his wenching and boy love hobbies... And he deflected like a master, turning the topic to his good works. Ports and trips to see Saturn? Is there any truth to that?" This was said to King Richard, who looked slightly put upon by the question. Almost angry.
His voice was smooth however. Flowing out of him in a way that made his next words seem like a prepared speech.
"They're both fact. There's more, too. Late last night I had to call on him to move soldiers to save a city from flood. He not only did that, but stayed to feed the personnel and return them to their base. I hear you're also putting together daily trips from all ports in the system? The Ancient, Alice Orange, got in touch to work out some of the particulars on that. I'm surprised you didn't mention it." The King didn't seem that way at all, but the idea was clear enough. He wanted to impress upon his father how useful Dare was.
Which did sound pretty good when it was all said together.
"Well, I'm planning to set up goods shipping if I can, using those craft and routes, so that isn't a hobby really. I should split the funds that come in, if anything, with space fleet." That sounded fair to him, though it was clear he'd need to hire his own people to do the booking and moving of goods.
Instead of call him a bore for talking about work, Baldur reached down with his free hand and slapped Dare on the shoulder. It was friendly, however.
"Ha! Industrious. What are today's youth coming to, eh, Richard? I remember a time when a boy his age would just sit in taverns pulling comely lasses onto his lap. Times have changed, haven't they?"
The big redheaded man, looked at his own father and simply nodded.
"War, cataclysm and hardship have changed us all, I think. A boy should have the luxury to play and make a fool of himself, but we can't afford that now. There are things afoot. Worse than the last attacks, in potential. We should speak of that later. I need what wisdom I can on the topic." He cast a look at the older man, but not Dareg, which probably meant that he wasn't going to be invited to that particular special meeting. Which made sense. He'd need to get to bed again soon anyway. Just saying that sounded insane, but it was still correct.
The music in the background changed tunes, to a light thing that was probably impossible to dance to, but that was intriguing enough to catch the attention of the whole group for a moment. Then the old man rumbled in a low tone to his son.
"I had wondered, given the invitation. Not that coming merely to see my grandchildren or to meet the new betrothed isn't enough. It's well past time for our Karina to marry. I've worried about her for some time now. Living off in space, all alone, on the edge of nothingness like she must be doing. I'd cry scandal, but don't know enough to even lay false claims there. I can't see it being a good thing however."
Dareg didn't know either, having never been there before. It occurred to him that he should go and check that. The next day would work well enough for that. When he got all the scientists. More to the point, the morning of the day after. If they could manage it. That way the science team could spend a whole day working on things.
To that end, he bowed to the men with him.
"I need to find someplace where talking on the handheld won't distract others? I need to get on with Timon Baker. It just occurred to me that I don't know who to contact about things in Austra as to when I need to be there. It was very nice meeting you, Baldur. King Richard." He bowed to the king, going low and holding it, getting one only slightly less deep in return.
"Prince Dareg. I think the small conference room, down the hallway on the left, will do? Three doors down on that side?"
Those words got him out of the room, and it wasn't too hard to find the right space. It was big enough for twenty people, but the whole thing was a matter of scale really. In this place it was tiny, being only the same amount of space that a family of six might live their entire lives in. That was being rich however. They had the best of things, and kept them mainly for themselves and their friends.
At least he didn't see any common city people standing there, along side of him.
It didn't take long to get with Timon, and even though it was late in the Capital, the man seemed alert and chipper still.
"Dareg! Getting in touch to learn who you need to talk to about the upcoming trip? If of course, it isn't me, which it isn't. Mike Coltress. My personal aide. Good man, Mike. Used to be a woman, so when you find that out, don't be too shocked. He should be awake by now, being on Austran time. I was actually just going to get him to contact you, but this will work." It was all insightful information, missing only the rest of what he wanted. Instead of asking he nodded at the man, and smile.
"And? You're missing half of it."
That got Timon to freeze, looking very young for a few moments, as bafflement hit his face. Then there was a searching picking up things from the background.
"Well... You're at the King's palace... Am I supposed to go to dinner? I wasn't invited that I know of. Some kind of secret meeting?"
Dare shrugged and then shook his head.
"Yes. Soon, but not today. We all need to get together. All the world's leaders, and Ancients. Which means I won't be needed for it. For now though I need to set up those lessons with you, and Tenet suggested that I get building lessons at the same time, if the things match up? Also, as many powers as I can be changed to hold. As a test. I probably can't handle that right now, but as soon as I can? I just wanted to see if you'd be willing to help with that." He let his voice become dark, and low energy as he spoke to show that it was all serious.
Timon laughed anyway.
"All right. Strength, speed, greater intelligence. That's going to be hard. It's not easy to make a person a lot more intelligent than I am. I'll figure something out that way. Training in building and time manipulation. You're planning on fighting, too? With..." Then he stopped and shook his head. "I'm not even going to guess on that one. You have too many options, and all of them will work. There is a limit to the fighting skill a person can reach, since all of the movements are pretty much set by form, if you practice and pay attention. Really..." Then he stopped, and didn't go on in the slightest. Not even letting his face twitch to give away an idea.
"Probably Petra. I know her and while she suggested Alice Orange, I'm going to be at Printer School anyway, next year. If I can get the funds around for it. I'm planning out a shipping business. All those ships going places and all that?"
"Not a bad plan. Get with Alice on it. I'll try to set up what you need. You don't mind looking like a ten foot tall lizard man, do you?" There was a grin that wasn't restrained at all.
Dare nodded.
"Honestly, if we have to do that, then we do. I don't want to be caught out again. Really, if those were the lower level Adversaries... We can't hold back. So yeah, whatever it takes." Which could mean being a dragon, he guessed.
That got a serious nod.
"Understood. I'll handle that portion. Call it a month? You won't really be ready before then. Not after being mostly dead like you were. You
need to rest and take it easy, if you can. Avoid getting into fights, and if you can't, make sure to pick very tiny opponents that don't fight well. Wear a shield all the time and be willing to run away. A big failure in that room was that the people that could have run all stood their ground. Fighting isn't always the best plan. Learn that one now, because honorable or not, we might have to do that more than is comfortable for the time being."
The words hit at him. Hard. While not everyone would have done better by running away, some would have. One in particular.
"High Servant Erid."
The scene, one that had been too hard to recall, suddenly flooded into his mind. It was a distorted thing, but vivid at the same time. He shook, fear flooding his body as it came back.
Timon didn't speak, simply observing him calmly. Intently enough that even over the device in his palm waves of attention hit him. Real ones that he could feel.
"Wait... You're reading me? From the Moon?"
That got a smile, a thing that only touched his mouth.
"And you noticed it. That's a good sign, as for learning to build. Good. You're in a combat rage by the way. You might want to pull that back. Flashback?"
"Yes. I think. High Servant Erid was very scared. Brave, too. He should have run away. He tried to help, but in the end it had no bearing on the attack. If I'd left, and trust me, I froze for the first bit so that wasn't happening, then we would have probably lost. I was needed to slow Bill down." Mainly by being beaten, but that had been his portion of the thing.
He'd been the bar on the door, that only had to last long enough to alert the guard that something was happening.
"Erid shouldn't have been there." The rest, even the leader of the High Servants, and Johan, the other man in white that had been there, were fighters. Not only wouldn't they have fled if they could have, everything would have told them to stand there, and take out the threat. At least before it had taken place.
Timon seemed to pick all that up, reading him with magic again.
"I can see that. It might also have worked if you'd all run away. There's some indication that space is integral to what was going on. You can't just slip into that time state and run at super speeds. Not the way they were doing it. Half the damage we all took, if not more than that, was just from moving around in space without time working right. I didn't take a fraction of what you or Tor did, but I broke bones in both my legs trying to get across the room."
That image, of a blurred giant form moving to help his brother flashed then. Along with a sense of visceral terror. That meant he was shaking by the time it stopped, a few seconds later.
Timon ignored that, and nodded at him.
"So stay ready to run. You should be able to get away, if you aren't trapped in place. Keep that in mind. I just wish we could get the others, the builders, up on the time thing."
Dare took a shuddering breath.
"Take them into it first, so they can experience it. Tor is coming to do up several right now, here, tonight. He thinks that might work."
"Oh. Yes, that might. Good idea. Get back with me on that if it does? In the morning though. Your time. I'm going to be working on some things for a bit. I imagine you'll be sleeping... Get Ten to do it for you? Remember to call Mike. Mike Coltress."
The handheld went dead, showing shining blue glowing names on white glasslike stone. It took a bit to find the right name, since there were tens of thousands of them now. In the end it was found under Baron Michael Coltress, which would have been nice to know to start with. Dare had scanned thousands of names to locate it.
The face that came up was pleasant looking, and had an age defying sense to it. Not old, but not a child. Other than that, it was impossible to tell how old he was. Tim had been careful there, telling Dareg that the man had once been a woman, which was strange, but then calling him a man the rest of the time. It seemed to fit the look, which was good, and nicely tanned, but not great looking. Nice though, as in friendly.
With brilliant blue hair, that was only a few inches long.
"Mike Coltress. How may I help you, sir?" The fellow was taking in his clothing, and seemed confused by it. It was nice enough, but the moving faces in places were pretty different.
"Hello! Dareg Canton. I'm supposed to get with you on setting up a pickup for some scientists? Going to Saturn. You probably don't have ten trips for that in the next few days, do you?"
"Ah! Prince Dareg? Excellent. I wasn't certain how to approach you. Just pick up a talker and go, then? Easier than I'd figured really. I wasn't sure that a personal visit wasn't needed. I can have them at the docks in the morning... Tomorrow. Twenty-two bodies? I know that you said twenty..."
He nodded, still feeling shaken and probably pale.
It didn't show in his voice, thankfully.
"So, six in the afternoon, my time?"
That got a smile, since the numbers were being ignored.
"Closer to eight your time? At the main docks here? Can you find it?"
"I can. If not, I'll get with you when I arrive. I'm planning on being away for four days to a week. We can make trips back and forth however, and will have a... People to put things on your media? I have some magical devices for that."
That got into a technical discussion, but it seemed like everything would be easy enough to set up. At least Mike thought so. If not, they really could get back to set things up for best effect. He'd need enough mass with them to make what they needed, and to set up sanitation services, but he thought he had the basic idea there.
He needed to set up a manufacturing device, which he had one of, from Queen Tiera, and turn the human waste to stone. They weren't going to be gone long, so it wouldn't be hard to do that. If they were going away for years they'd end up having to reuse it to create food.
Honestly, he didn't know that the ship, the new kind he had, wouldn't do all of that automatically. In fact, he was willing to bet it would. Timon would naturally put that in, if he built in food creation to the pattern of the whole thing. It needed to be tested first, and having a back up or two wasn't a bad idea.
This time when it was time to get off the handheld, they actually said goodbye, and set things up so that they could talk later if it was needed. It was far more polite than most of the other people had been being on the thing the entire time he'd had one.
Then, still shaking a tiny bit, he walked back to the party. The music was soothing, and in the near hour he'd been gone, other people had shown up. There were nearly a hundred bodies there, including a girl that looked familiar to him. She was decently tall, but about his own age. Her gown was magical, and wonderfully created to look impressive. Glowing slightly in white and pink, and made of satin and lace. He knew lace, anyway, but rest was a guess. It could have been silk or some other fine fabric.
He bowed as she passed, not really caring much about her yet. She was pretty, but at the moment he was fighting off the shaking that had been going on. If he'd been triggered into a combat rage once, he'd probably just done it three times in a row not long before.
She looked at him, her face smiling, and with no particular concern in her eyes.
"Hello! I think we met, at the return ceremony? You took me to my seat? I'm Allison Cordes." She waved, as if saying that it didn't matter, then added her title. "Princess. Of this place, I guess. I was raised on the Moon however. Have you ever been there?"
That let him smile and nod.
"I have. Nice place. Dareg Canton. Prince. Of Harmony? I was raised in a coastal city, as an orphan, myself. It turns out that Tor is my father."
She nodded excitedly.
"He told me about you then! I thought that might be you, but I didn't want to presume and be wrong. I hear that's dangerous around here? I have to say, it's easier that way back home. If you don't know something you just go up and ask about it. No one is offended that you didn't already know." She shook her head, but had leaned in, professionally, as if they were speaking in confidence. A lot of the noble
women did that, he'd noticed.
She reached out and touched his arm too, then smiled at him. That got him to snort, a little. Not that he explained anything. Instead he covered by smiling back.
"Well if you want to know something you can just ask, me at least. So, they just dumped you in here, too? I didn't even get a suggestion to mingle. You?"
She nodded.
"Queen Constance did tell me to get out and meet people here. You're the first one I tried. I figured that the age thing would be easier to move past that way. Then I was thinking I'd go and stand next to Uncle Alphonse. Except that isn't going to work here, I can see now. He raised me, but I always just kind of thought of him as my uncle. More like my father, I suppose. I mean, I knew my mother, and father, but... He was the one there for me. Just the nice man that hugged me and made certain I did my schoolwork each day. He ran the wine shop, and here... People that are important and powerful bow to him. It's just strange. Worse, they do it to me, and I'm not anyone, am I? I mean, Allison, but that doesn't count for much." She was sort of babbling, but was watching the entire floor the whole time.
Carefully. As if she expected a problem to be taking place. It was probably just her being prudent, so he tried to do the same, even if he didn't care that much about the whole thing.
Suddenly the girl, who was nearly a woman for all she looked about twelve, started to beam. Her smile was nearly alarming, and her arms went out, to hug a familiar looking blonde woman.
Alyssa Baker. Behind her stood a very tall, rather thin, man. He was only seven and a half feet or so, but he looked bigger than that to Dareg. Probably some others, too. That was just what being a legend meant.
Ali squealed a bit.
"Allison! There you are. They're feeding you enough here? Are you getting enough exercise? You aren't homesick, are you? We can take you to Harmony whenever you want. Just let us know."
The big hug got transferred to Tor, who hugged her back warmly, but in a way that definitely told the world they were related. Given that this was Veronica's daughter, that probably had to count. What Dareg was to her, he didn't know. If the Queen was his half sister, biologically speaking, not in familial relationships, and Veronica was that plus her mother's daughter, then... Allison was a person he should never be alone with romantically. Ever. Veronica was in the same boat, he was willing to bet. Real family, in a way that few ever were.
